Improvement in street-railway switches



l.. BEvELANDER.

Street-Railway Switches.

Patented March 23, i875.

kw exm UNITED tSTATES PATENT GEEIGE.,

BENJAMIN BEVELANDER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDSIMEON` L. PUTNAM, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STREET-RAILWAY SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,001, dated March23, 1875 application filed December 17, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Beitknown thatLBENJAMINBEvELANDEE, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Railway-Switches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, makingpart of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a plan or top view,and Fig. 2 a cross-section on the line a b of Fig. 1.

This invention relates to the switches which are used in the tracks ofhorse-railroads for guiding the cars from one track or route to another, and it is an improvement upon my former invention, patented anddated August 11,1874. In the use of my said former invention I havefound by experiment that as the car-wheels run and at times slidelaterally upon and down the inclines of the switch-rails made ofcast-iron, a portion of the incline is cut or worn by the outer liangesof the wheels, so as to present a roughness or uneven surface on suchportion of the incline, sufficient at times, and after considerablewear, to slightly impede the desired lateral sliding action of thecar-wheels on the surface of the incline. To overcome the aforesaiddifficulty I construct the switch-railB with au opening, cavity, orrecess in that part of the incline liable to become worn or cut by thecar-wheel, such part being between the end f of the rail B and theswitch-point g thereof, and forward of the latter and between the siderails I, and in this recess I apply a hard-metal plate, E, which isgenerally hardened steel. The top surface of this plate E is iiush oreven with the incline, and with the adjoining end surfaces b thereof.This hard-metal plate E is secured to and in the recess of theswitch-rail by screws c passing through the rail into the plate, andcapable of removal. This hardmetal plate confers great utility upon thesaid switch by largely increasing its wearing capacity, and by insuringthe desired easy and free lateral sliding action of the car-Wheels uponits hard smooth wearing-surface; and although it adds a triiie to therst cost of the switch, this is more than doubly compensated by theadvantages resulting therefrom, as described. In practice, and if bylong-continued use and wear the plate E of hard metal or hardened steelshould become worn in or upon its upper side, the screws c may bewithdrawn, and theplate removed from the recess in the rail, and turnedover and reapplied in the recess, so as to bring its under side orunworn surface uppermost, and into wearing contact with the car-wheels,and in this position the plate is again secured by the screws c, asbefore. Other and newly-prepared and hardcned-steel or hard-metal platesare easily and cheaply substituted for those which may, bylong-continued use, become worn out on both sides, and thus the cost andexpense of new switch-rails be avoided, considerably to the advantage ofthe party using them. Instead of hardened steel for the plates E, anyother metal capable of being sufficiently hardened, or of itselfsufliciently hard, may be used as a suitable substitute for the steel;and I contemplate that uuanuealed 1n alleable-iron material, and somekinds of hematite iron, cast in proper form to lill the cavity in theincline of the switch-rail, may be made to endure nearly or quite aslong, and as well, as the steel plates first described.

I claim as my invention- The hard-metal piane E in the switch-mn E,

between the end f and the switch-point g, and forward of the latter andbetween the side rails I, substantially as described.

BENJAMIN BEVELANDER. Witnesses:

JOHN E. CRANE, WM. S. BROWN.

